US marines press ahead with JLTVs as army exits program

The US Marine Corps is pushing forward with plans to acquire the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) to replace its aging Humvees, though the service may have to scale back purchases after the US Army’s sudden withdrawal from the program raised concerns over rising costs.

In May, the Army announced a series of cuts that included ending JLTV procurement, despite having taken deliveries under a joint order of 30,000 vehicles in 2023. The service has been fielding JLTVs since 2019, the Defense One writes in its article. 

The Marine Corps has so far received half of its planned 15,000 JLTVs, spokesman David Jordan told Defense One. Discussions with the Army and AM General—the vehicle’s manufacturer—are underway, but the impact of the Army’s exit remains unclear.

Gen. Eric Smith, the Marine Corps commandant, told the House Appropriations Committee in May that the Corps was “still assessing the full impact of the Army’s abrupt exit from the joint program.”

He warned lawmakers: “That’s going to negatively impact the Marine Corps’ ability to fulfill its ground tactical vehicle mobility strategy, which has me concerned.”

At present, each JLTV costs about $400,000, a figure based on bulk production that assumed the Army would continue purchasing tens of thousands of vehicles.

A month later, Smith told the Senate Appropriations Committee that without additional funding, the Corps would be forced to cut back its JLTV buys. He also noted the Army did not consult the Marines before announcing its withdrawal.

An Army leader said at the time that the service would not owe AM General a settlement, since the latest batch of vehicles had been delivered in January and no new orders were placed.

AM General did not respond to Defense One’s request for comment, but in a May press release said it remained committed to producing JLTVs and Humvees.

“As we work to understand the significance of the DOD’s recent communications, we will continue to operate our HUMVEE and JLTV A2 assembly lines and our Aftermarket Fulfillment facility as normal to meet our contractual requirements and serve the Warfighter,” the company said.

The contract runs through 2027, with an option to extend to 2028, and could have been worth up to $8.6 billion.

“The government has tremendous flexibility on contracts in terms of, you know, they can cancel it anytime,” Jerry McGinn, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former senior official in the Pentagon’s Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, told Defense One. “And then the company, they go into these contracts knowing that the government can do this.”

The Marine Corps’ fiscal year 2026 budget request includes no new JLTVs. However, a June report by the House of Representatives on the 2026 defense funding bill recommends $345 million for Army JLTVs and $169 million for the Marines, underscoring that cancellation decisions do not rest solely with the services.

By Sabina Mammadli